Be My Little Baby
by Bratette
Summary: Thanks to a project for school, Alvin and Brittany are stuck taking care of a bag of flour as if it's a real baby. They'll have to find a way to put aside their differences and try to be the best pretend parents they can in order to pass the assignment. But taking care of a fake baby together will be far more difficult than they think.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I got inspired to write this after watching a show on TV that had to do with a class taking care of bags of flour as if they were babies. It's not the most original idea ever, but hopefully I can make this story my own anyway!**

**On a side note, Behind Closed Doors has been deleted for a number of reasons, the biggest one is because I want to improve on how I write stories like that since I've grown to dislike the story along with One Wild Week. I plan on rewriting BCD someday, just not any time soon.**

**For now I hope you enjoy this new story! I had a lot of fun writing the first chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Chipmunks, Chipettes, or any other characters. The title is from the song "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes because I could not think of a good title for the life of me. It also helps to cope with not having the chipmunk cover of that song in good quality. Not really but yeah, enjoy.**

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"But _Dave!_"

"I don't want to hear any buts, Alvin."

Dave rubbed a hand over his face, taking another look at the paper he was holding. "You told me you brought up your grades," his voice was a mixture of anger and disappointment.

"I told you I brought up my Math grade," Alvin corrected innocently, "and I did! See, just take a look right there-"

"A low C hardly counts as bringing it up," Dave stood and set the report card on the kitchen counter. Next to it, Simon's perfectly _perfect_ report card had already been stuck to the fridge with a magnet. Not like Alvin cared.

"You can't keep getting by with these kind of grades," his adoptive father continued, pacing back and forth while he spoke, "sooner or later it's going to catch up with you!"

Alvin slumped lower in the chair he sat in. "You don't get how hard it is," he muttered, avoiding Dave's stern look.

Dave's expression softened almost immediately. He sat down across from Alvin. "I would if you'd talk to me about it."

"Well..." Alvin let out a big, loud sigh to add more suspense to the situation. He looked over at Dave, who was already staring at him expectantly, waiting to hear him out and have a nice heart to heart talk over the matter.

"It's not _my_ fault, it's the school's fault!" he suddenly exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air for extra emphasis. "The teachers all have something against me!"

"Alvin..." Dave sighed.

"Like Mrs. Smith," Alvin insisted, "she blamed _me_ for letting all of those frogs out, without any real proof!"

"Alvin, she caught you doing that."

"And Miss Stone! You know Dave, I think she's still bitter over things not working out between the two of us..."

"_Alvin!_"

"Or even Mr. Daniels, he's always trying to say that I'm the one making all those spitballs, when really it's just-"

"He's always saying that because it _is_ you," a voice interjected, much to Alvin's annoyance. He and Dave turned to see Simon and Theodore standing side by side at the entrance way to the kitchen.

"Who asked you?" Alvin snapped, narrowing his eyes at Simon. Leave it to his goody-two-shoes brother to try and make things even worse for him.

Dave grabbed the report card again. It was like he thought it was going to magically change the more he looked at it. He didn't like having to yell at any of his boys, but taking care of such a troublesome child like Alvin usually meant that he didn't have any other choice. He only wanted what was best for them.

"You've got to bring this F up," he said firmly, "no questions about it. Until you can do that, you won't be getting your allowance."

Alvin's eyes widened. "_What?_" he cried. "You can't do this to me! I need that money!"

"What you need is to pass school," Dave corrected, his tone making it clear that his decision was final. The moment he stood, Alvin jumped forward and wrapped his arms around his leg. He attempted to shake him off, but Alvin had a tight grip.

"Please Dave!" the desperate chipmunk begged. Normally he wouldn't care too much about getting his allowance taken away, he had gotten far worse punishments before, but this time it was different. For weeks he had been trying to save up for the newest edition of _Monsters Attack!_, and Dave knew that he wanted it more than anything at the moment.

Dave gave up on trying to pull Alvin off of him. He lifted one leg up and then carefully lifted the one with Alvin attached to it, doing his best to walk without falling over.

Simon and Theodore shared a knowing look. They both began to pry their older brother off of Dave, ignoring his frantic protests. By the time they managed to drag Alvin upstairs to their room, his face was void of any emotion, his eyes wide while he stared straight ahead.

"A-Alvin?" Theodore waved a hand in front of his face.

"Leave him alone, Theodore," Simon suggested. "He's just in one of those moods."

He was right, of course. He knew that Alvin usually tried to pull off a dramatic silent act when something didn't go the way he thought it would. Personally he found it hard to have any sympathy for his brother when he knew that he wasn't trying his best in school.

"I'll go make him some soup," Theodore muttered, dashing out of the room as quick as he could. He wasn't stupid either, he knew Alvin was just upset about getting his money taken away, but he hated to ever see Alvin or Simon in a bad mood. Soup was always the best remedy.

_..._

By the next morning, Alvin was still in a bad mood. His situation was hopeless and he knew it. There was no way he was going to be able to bring his bad grade up fast enough to get the magazine he wanted any time soon.

The worst part of it all was that the F was in Health class. He _hated_ that class, especially since he didn't even need to take it in the first place. The only reason he was in it was because his brothers and the Chipettes all wanted to make sure that at least one of their extra curricular classes was the same so they could all be together for it. Unfortunately the only class they ended up agreeing on compared to all of their other options was Health.

He was in such a bad mood that he was almost more quiet than Jeanette as the six of them all walked towards school together. Brittany was talking enough for the both of them, at least, as she went on about something that had happened with Missy Snootson the other day.

"So I told her that she obviously has no idea how fashion works and called her a fake," Brittany was saying, despite the fact that no one was really listening to her, "and do you know what she told me?"

The Chipette paused before continuing, "She told me that-"

"It takes a fake to know a fake?"

"No," Brittany huffed, glaring at Alvin for his interruption. "_She_ told _me_-"

"That nobody likes a know it all who thinks scarfs and legwarmers go well together?"

Brittany stopped walking, everyone else doing the same.

"Are you trying to say my outfit isn't cute?" she demanded, getting in Alvin's face.

Their siblings stayed quiet, hoping that Brittany would be able to just continue with her story. They didn't need to be late again thanks to one of Alvin and Brittany's infamous disagreements.

"If the out of style shoe fits," Alvin shrugged.

"Like you would know anything about fashion," Brittany scoffed, starting to walk again, much to everyone else's relief.

Alvin decided to let her have this one. He could have thought up a better comeback, but with the depressing reminder of his bad grade taking over almost all of his thoughts, he just didn't care as much as usual about getting the last word that morning.

The rest of their walk to school was quiet for the most part. They arrived at school and walked off to their own respective classes. The day was going by much faster than usual in Alvin's opinion, and he knew that was because he was dreading having to go to Health class.

His head hung low as he walked into the room, taking his seat beside Simon. He guessed that today they would make another study guide for a test that he would no doubt fail.

A few desks away, Brittany sat next to Jeanette, still determined to finish her story from that morning.

"She told me she's getting that pair of boots I've been wanting," she said, her cheeks turning red at the memory. She hated Missy Snootson more than anyone and hated getting shown up by her even more. "Can you believe it?"

Jeanette slowly shook her head, not sure what exactly she was supposed to say. She was never very good when it came to this kind of stuff.

"I've got to find a way to get those boots before she does," Brittany muttered, more to herself than Jeanette.

Their teacher, Mrs. Morgan, entered the room with her usual bright smile.

"Good afternoon class," she greeted them. "We'll be doing something pretty exciting today."

"Fat chance," Alvin muttered to Simon, who simply rolled his eyes in response.

However even if he couldn't deny that he was the tiniest bit curious as to why Mrs. Morgan had wheeled in a cart full of flour bags on her way in the room. That wasn't something the class saw everyday.

Mrs. Morgan picked up one of the flour bags.

"For the next four weeks," she began to explain, "these bags of flour will be your new baby."

The class all exchanged looks of confusion, not quite getting it.

"So _that's_ what she needed those for," Theodore whispered to Eleanor. She nodded slowly. The two had been wondering why Mrs. Morgan asked their cooking teacher about such a thing as bags of flour.

Mrs. Morgan smiled. "You'll each be assigned your own bag of flour and a partner. Together you will have to prove that you can take good care of your bag of flour as if it's a real child." Ignoring the still confused looks she was getting, she added, "This is going to be a big part of your grade and count as a project, so I hope you'll all try your best with this."

"Do you hear that, Alvin?" Simon said under his breath without even looking away from the teacher. "A _big_ part of your _grade._ Try your best."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, not wanting to get his hopes up too much. So far the project sounded like one of the dumbest things he had ever heard of and he wasn't feeling any better about his chances of getting his allowance back.

"Now I'll call each of your names and you and your partner may come up here and get your bag of flour," Mrs. Morgan continued.

Alvin paid no mind to the names she was listing off until, to his horror, he heard: "Alvin and Brittany..."

His mind began to buzz and his ears rang. Was Mrs. Morgan out of her mind? She was purposefully setting him up for failure by putting him with Brittany! What little hope he had of doing a good job on the dumb flour baby project was gone.

Brittany didn't look any happier as she walked with Alvin to collect their bag of flour. They both reached for it at the same time, but Brittany was quicker and tugged it away, walking back to her desk without saying anything.

She couldn't believe that Mrs. Morgan paired her with Alvin for the project. She knew that he was going to make taking care of a fake baby, one made out of flour no less, a miserable experience for her.

"You can all get with your partner and make a design for your baby's face," Mrs. Morgan began to dig out the class markers. She knew that teaching a class full of elementary kids meant that they would need to have some kind of fun with the project.

Brittany reluctantly sat next to Alvin once Simon had moved to go sit by his own partner. She set their flour baby on the table carefully.

"So what should we name her?" she asked him, twisting the cap off a black marker. She already decided their flour baby would be a girl.

Alvin shrugged. "Who cares?"

Brittany rolled her ice blue eyes and began to draw a face on the bag of flour as best as she could. Alvin could be difficult if he wanted to be, but she was not going to let him drag her down with him and get a bad grade. She refused.

After a while, she had managed to draw what she thought was a very cute face on the baby. The only thing that was missing was eyelashes. She carefully began to draw the lines. Once she was satisfied, she turned the bag towards Alvin.

"What do you think?"

Alvin looked the bag over, nodding his head. "Not bad," he mused. "But it's missing a few things."

He took the marker from her and began to add his own personal touches to the bag. He finished with his touch ups and turned the bag back to Brittany, looking proud with his work. "There!"

Brittany's eyes widened once she realized what Alvin had done to their flour baby. "You gave her a unibrow!" she gasped. "And a _mustache!_ Alvin!"

She angrily waited for Alvin to finish cracking up over his stupid joke, which wasn't even that funny, and then raised her hand to ask Mrs. Morgan if they could start over with their bag of flour. To her dismay, there were no extras and she was stuck with a unibrow mustache flour baby.

This was enough to show her that Alvin didn't plan on taking the project seriously. She glared at him, pulling the bag of flour towards herself protectively. She was already stressed enough about her current issue with Missy Snootson and the boots she wanted, she didn't need to add a bad grade onto all of that.

"You'd better stop all of that right now," she growled, putting as much venom into her voice as she could. She wanted to make it clear from the get go that she was not going to put up with any of Alvin's usual antics for this project. "I am _not_ going to get a bad grade just because of you! And I'm not taking care of a bag of flour all by myself either! So quit being annoying."

Much to her surprise, Alvin nodded, not putting up much of a fight.

"I know that," he sounded just as impatient, "I never said I wasn't going to help! In case you haven't noticed, you're not the only one who has to get a good grade. Besides, the mustache looks great."

"Oh yeah, because you care _so_ much about your grades," Brittany scoffed.

"I do this time," Alvin said. "Dave took away my allowance and I'm not getting it back until I bring up my grade."

Brittany couldn't imagine why that would make Alvin care about getting great grades all of a sudden. She didn't understand until she remembered that silly magazine Alvin had been saving up for. She knew that he wanted it a lot, he hadn't shut up about it for weeks.

That was good though, at least she had something to hold over his head to make sure he would do a good job on the project.

"Well, good," she smiled, scooting the bag of flour back between the two of them on the table. "I'll come to your house after school and we can start taking care of the baby."

"How do you take care of a sack of flour?" Alvin wrinkled his nose.

Brittany shrugged. "That's a good question," she said.

For the rest of the class they worked on trying to improve the bag of flour's looks. Nothing really helped, in the end it still had a unibrow and mustache, but at least they tried.

"So," Brittany said near the end of class. "We both agree that we're going to try to get a good grade, right?"

Alvin held out his hand for her to shake on it, which she accepted. "Right," he nodded.

They both looked very confident once the bell rang, signaling that the class was over. They began to talk about how the project would be a piece of cake and no trouble at all as they walked out of the classroom together. Of course, on the inside, they were both thinking the exact same thing: _We're doomed._

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**A/N: Well that's the first chapter! I know taking classes like Health is kind of unrealistic for an elementary school, but this is AATC we're talking about. It's never been one of the most realistic shows, and I thought this plot would work best with the ages they are in the show instead of making them older.**

**So what did you think? Did you like it? How badly do you think Alvin and Brittany are going to screw this up?**

**Let me know in a review! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it took a little while to get this second chapter out. I've been spending most of my days binge watching Orange is the New Black and just recently landed my very first job. It's at a daycare and I'm loving it! But this probably means I'll have even less time to write and updates might get slower so please be patient with me.**

**Thanks to everyone who left a review! They always make me super happy. Enjoy the next chapter.**

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The rest of the school day passed by even slower than usual for Brittany. She hated having to carry around a bag of flour all day. It was making her arms cramp and the weird looks people gave her thanks to Alvin's _wonderful_ art skills on the bag made her feel stupid. By the time her second to last class of the day rolled around she had run out of what little patience she had in her and stuffed the bag of flour into her locker.

It wasn't until school was completely over that she went back to grab the fake baby. As soon as she shut the door to her locker she found herself face to face with Alvin.

"You left the flour in your locker?" he asked, as if he were beyond appalled by the thought.

Brittany nodded slowly, adjusting the bag of flour in her arms. "Yeah, so what?"

"It's only been one day and our fake baby could technically have just fake died from fake suffocation!"

Her eyebrows rose. "I'm sure it's fine," she turned and began to walk towards the school's exit while Alvin followed.

"You're not a very good fake parent," he pointed out to her.

Brittany just rolled her eyes. "As if you really care!" She was already annoyed enough and didn't need Alvin of all people to make it any worse. Not only was the bag of flour weighing her arms down, her problems with Missy Snootson had gotten worse.

Earlier at lunch, Missy and her friends purposefully sat close to the usual table the Chipmunks and Chipettes were always at. She made sure, when talking to her friends about the new pair of boots her daddy was going to buy her, Brittany could hear every word.

She spoke as if the boots were already hers and on her feet, which only made Brittany more determined. She would get those boots before Missy was able to get them if it killed her.

"I'll be the very first girl in the whole school to own them," Brittany could still hear her saying it in her head like an annoying bee buzzing in her ear, "_me,_ Missy Snootson!"

_Not if I've got anything to do about it,_ Brittany thought angrily, gripping the flour bag tighter in her arms.

"Of course I care," Alvin's voice brought her back to reality. "It's a bag full of flour and it's apparently supposed to be treated like a real baby. How could I not care about that?"

Of course he _didn't_ care, but he could tell his mock concern was getting on Brittany's nerves.

She pretended not to hear him, which of course only gave room for him to continue. "You know, that really hurts, you've got some nerve making accusations about not caring when you shut him up in a locker all day!" He shook his head in disgust. "No food, no water..."

She was forced to stop in her tracks when Alvin suddenly jumped forward, throwing his arms out in a ridiculous pose while singing at the top of his lungs, "_A-aaaall byyy himseeeelf!_"

Her cheeks turned red as people began to stare. "Knock it off!" She shoved him lightly to snap him out of it. She had never met someone who loved to get attention in such ridiculous ways.

"And it's a _she,_ not a he," she corrected once they were able to continue walking again like normal people.

"She's very hairy for a girl," Alvin said.

Brittany looked down at the bag of flour's unibrow and mustache. She frowned.

"We're going to have to fix that. Do you have any money?"

When Alvin simply shook his head, Brittany let out a loud sigh. "What kind of fake parent are you?" she demanded. "It's only been one day and you can't provide for the baby already!"

He rolled his eyes while Brittany smiled triumphantly. She loved getting back at Alvin since he enjoyed bugging her so much and so often. It felt nice to give him a taste of his own medicine whenever she could.

"I already told you, Dave took away my allowance." he reminded her sullenly. The thought of his bad grade and unfairly taken away allowance quickly shot down his good mood.

"It's okay, I can buy it," she said. "I pay attention in school sometimes so I actually have an allowance."

"Yeah right!" Alvin scoffed. "You probably just cheat your way through things. At least I can accept my bad grades with stride and honesty." He held his head high, the look on his face making Brittany laugh.

"Aren't you the one who got caught copying off Jeanette's math test last week?" she asked coyly, nudging him in the side.

He nudged her back. "No, I'm pretty sure that was _you._"

Brittany paused, pretending to think it over. "Hmm. Maybe." She shot him a pointed a look. "Either way you're buying the next thing the baby needs."

"It's a bag of flour," he insisted.

"Don't call her an it anymore," Brittany said defensively. "We've got to treat it... _her,_ like a real baby if we want to get a good grade, remember?"

Alvin didn't look too convinced. "What do you need to buy for it anyway?" Brittany shot him a sharp glare and he quickly corrected himself, "_Her,_ I mean."

"Something to fix her poor face," she sighed. "There's no way I'm going to let my baby have a unibrow and mustache, fake or not."

"What's the matter with how it looks?" Alvin asked innocently.

"She," Brittany corrected him again.

After Alvin reluctantly muttered "_she,_" in agreement, Brittany continued, "You know exactly what's wrong with her."

"I think it looks great," he smirked.

"_She!_"

_..._

It took at least an entire hour and a half for Brittany to finish picking out whatever it was that she needed. Alvin sat on a bench outside the store with the flour baby in case one of the employees thought they were trying to do something like steal a bag of flour.

"That's stupid," Brittany had insisted when the idea was brought up. "Who would mess with a bag of flour, of all things?"

Anything was possible, and Alvin knew that all too well. He had gotten in trouble for things even more stupid without really meaning to, and didn't want to take his chances. Dave was already upset enough with him about his grades.

He tapped his foot impatiently, wondering what could possibly be taking Brittany so long. He really wished she would hurry up, the confused looks people were giving him and the drawn on bag of flour sitting next to him weren't easy to recover from. The impatient chipmunk turned in his spot to see if there was any sight of Brittany walking out of the store. Of course there wasn't.

The next thing his eyes landed on caused them to widen considerably. A rather big poster for the newest edition of _Monsters Attack!_ was staring him right in the face, proudly hung up on the wall of the store and facing the outside for everyone to gawk at, including Alvin himself. He looked over the cover, taking in every detail. A pale woman with wide eyes and tall, wiry black hair with a white streak running through it stood next to a large reptilian looking creature.

He still couldn't get over Dave taking away his allowance. Dave had to have known how hard he'd been working the past few weeks to save up his money, he was getting close to the right amount, and now his chances were all but ripped away from him, just like that.

Why did it _matter_ if he didn't have a good grade in Health class? It wasn't like he was going to have to use any of the useless junk they were taught later on in life. What really mattered was whether or not the Bride of Frankenstein and Godzilla were secretly a match made in heaven, or if the strange creature a man had spotted near a lagoon was real or not, and there was no way he would be able to find any of that out without the money to purchase the magazine.

"I hope this stuff will work," a familiar voice brought Alvin out of his self pity session.

"What did you get?" he asked Brittany.

She motioned for Alvin to stand up and set the bags on the bench he'd been sitting on while waiting for her. Reaching into the bags, she pulled out a number of things which had clearly all come from the arts and crafts aisle.

"These should help fix her unibrow at least a little," Brittany waved several fuzz covered pipe cleaners in the air, "and this yarn can be used to give her hair, it might distract from her mustache some. I'm still not sure how to fix that."

Alvin raised an eyebrow. "It took you that long to get fuzzy wires and some yarn?"

Brittany looked offended. "I wasn't _that_ long," she insisted. "Besides, I couldn't decide on brown or yellow for the yarn."

Deciding on what colors to pick had taken up part of her time, but she had also spent a considerable amount of her visit in the store staring at an advertisement for the boots she wanted. She should have been saving her money for the shoes, not wasting it on silly things like yarn. If she didn't get serious about things, Missy Snootson would beat her out of buying the boots first for sure.

"You owe me five bucks," she suddenly decided.

Alvin didn't look too happy about that. "What?!" he exclaimed.

"You heard me," Brittany gathered the bags in her arms, her voice firm. It was only fair, the bag of flour was Alvin's responsibility too and so he should be helping out with paying for it.

"Maybe you put on a little too much hairspray this morning," Alvin said slowly, as if he were speaking to a toddler, "but Dave took away my allowance. That means _I won't be getting_ _any money._"

His condescending tone made Brittany's fists curl around the bags she held, but she kept her composure steady. "Well you can pay me when you get your allowance back," she shrugged, already beginning to walk away from the store to signal the conversation was over. "Oh, don't forget to grab Paula."

"Paula?" she heard Alvin question, she didn't even have to turn around to see the confused expression on his face. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Paula," she repeated just as slow as he had done to her moments prior. "The baby. That's what I'm naming her."

It wasn't an original pick by any means, in fact she had gotten the idea of the name from Paula Abdul, one of her favorite singers. Still, she liked it, and thought it was only natural to name her baby after someone important and memorable.

Alvin grabbed the bag of flour and caught up with her, sending an annoyed look in her direction. "How come you get to come up with all of this stuff?" he demanded, motioning his free arm towards the bag of flour in his other. "You made it a girl, now you're naming it Paula?"

"_Her,_" Brittany corrected. "And it's because I'm the mother. Everyone knows mothers always get the final say and have to make the most important decisions."

"No way!"

"Yes way."

They bickered back and forth about whether or not Brittany had the right to choose everything for the baby until they stopped in front of the Miller household. She adjusted the bags in her arms. "Are you going to keep Paula for the night?" she asked Alvin, finding the perfect opportunity to change the subject and make sure she still got the last word.

"I guess so," Alvin shrugged, still not used to having to treat a bag of flour like an actual baby. Brittany seemed to adjusting to the weird idea just fine, but he still thought it was kind of dumb to have to take care of flour of all things.

Either way in the end it didn't matter what he thought, he would just have to suck it up if he wanted to get his allowance back as soon as possible. He would have to keep reminding himself that throughout the project if he was going to survive it.

As for Brittany, she was secretly having _fun_ with the fake baby. She wasn't ready to admit such a thing yet, it was only a bag of flour after all and she was sure Alvin would pick on her for it, but it was true. Shopping for Paula, even if it was only for things like pipe cleaners and yarn and used up money that could have been spent on the boots she wanted, had been oddly fun. She liked having a pretend baby to take care of. Sure, this pretend baby was full of flour, but it was the thought that counted.

She handed Alvin the bags. "You can go home and fix her face," she said, hands on her hips, "since it's _your_ fault she looks so stupid."

"I still think she looks great," Alvin insisted, adding an emphasis to the word _she_ as if he were proud he remembered to not refer to the flour as an _it._

"She looks awful," Brittany couldn't help cracking a smile as she looked over Paula again. She really hoped her face could be fixed at least _some,_ she didn't want to have the ugliest baby in the entire class.

"You're right," Alvin relented. A mischievous grin broke out on his face. "She obviously takes after her mother."

Her smile immediately fell and was replaced with a scowl. "Whatever," she snapped, stomping off into her house without another word. Why did Mrs. Morgan have to pair her up with possibly the worst fake parent there was? It was already bad enough she had to deal with a fake ugly baby.

She went upstairs to her room, greeting a gloomy looking Jeanette.

"What's the matter with you?"

Jeanette looked up in surprise. "N-nothing," she squeaked.

Brittany highly doubted that, but she didn't feel like pushing it any further. "Where's your baby?" she looked around the room, there was no sight of Jeanette's own bag of flour.

"With Theodore," Jeanette explained, which was just enough to remind Brittany of why her sister might be upset.

Mrs. Morgan had paired Theodore and Jeanette together, which really wasn't a bad thing at all. Jeanette was good friends with Theodore. The bad thing was that Simon had gotten paired up with Jillian, a girl he had crushed on only a few years ago and still seemed to like talking to. Brittany didn't think he still liked her, but she could understand Jeanette feeling uneasy about the two getting paired together for a fake baby assignment.

Instead of pressing the subject any further, Brittany simply asked when dinner was going to be ready. It wasn't like Jeanette would admit to caring about the two being paired together even if it was true, and she didn't feel like bothering with trying to get it out of her.

Besides, Brittany knew she had much worse problems than the bespectacled Chipette did. She still wasn't sure how she was going to get enough money in time to buy those boots. If Missy did manage to buy them first, she would feel mortified. It would mean her worst enemy had won.

Not only that, but at least Jeanette hadn't been paired up with the worst fake parent on the planet.

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**A/N: Jillian is from New Improved Simon, if you didn't know. NO, Jeanette and Simon being paired up with people other than their counterparts does not mean this is going in the direction of mixed couples! I would never! I just don't want to totally ignore the other two couples in this story, even if it is primarily focused on Alvittany, the other couples can have their own little drama in the mix as well ;)  
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**I'm actually going to bump up the age I initially planned for them to be in this since I haven't done much to set it in stone yet. I know I said last chapter they're supposed to be the age they are in the show, but I think having them be ten years old will work a little better instead of eight. It's not going to change anything, I'm only doing it since it makes more sense to me the more I think about it and little things like that bother me if I don't have them exactly how I want them, but still, just thought I'd mention it.**

**By the way, I forgot to mention in the last chapter, I didn't come up with the name of the magazine Alvin wants - I just did a quick google search for a good monster magazine name, haha. Oky, sorry this author's note turned out long!  
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**I'll try to post the next chapter soon, thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, I showed The Chipmunk Adventure to the kids at daycare last Friday. Introducing children to the cartoon chipmunks (sadly, but understandably, most of them were more familiar with the CGI movies) is always fun.  
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**Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! You're the best.  
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Contrary to what some people might believe, Brittany _almost_ liked school mornings. She wasn't a fan of getting up early, there was always the constant worry if she didn't get enough sleep she might get bags under her eyes. She wasn't a morning person, per se_,_ but she didn't hate them.

She _almost_ liked school mornings because she loved picking an outfit to show off, styling her hair to perfection, choosing what shoes would look best with what she was wearing. Primping was one of her favorite hobbies, and school gave her a great excuse to do it - not like she needed much of one anyway since she chose to always look her absolute best when out in public, but still.

She had been that way since she could remember and she would stay that way, so mornings would always be at least a little easy for her. It gave her something to look forward to, something to be excited about.

However this particular morning, Brittany was feeling much less enthusiastic than usual about getting ready for school.

She was still in her white bathrobe when she sat down at the kitchen table. Miss Miller, whom was shaking her hips to the Isley Brothers' _Twist and Shout_ while it blasted from the radio, set down a plate full of bacon and eggs in front of her. "Good morning, dear!" her adoptive mother yelled over the loud music.

Brittany did her best to focus on her food and not the aggravating music. She stabbed at the eggs with her fork, ignoring Eleanor and Jeanette's confused looks. They weren't used to seeing Brittany at the table and not dressed. She was always ready to go far earlier than anyone else in the house since perfection took time that couldn't be wasted, or so she claimed.

Next to Eleanor's own plate of food sat a bag of flour. It had plastic googly eyes glued to it (why hadn't Brittany thought of buying those herself from the arts and crafts aisle?), a sharpie drawn smile, a small black wig perched on top of it, and a bib tied around it.

"Your baby looks cute," Brittany huffed, unable to hide her jealousy.

Luckily Eleanor didn't seem to notice. "Thanks," she beamed.

Out of everyone in the entire class, Eleanor was sure she was the most excited for the fake baby project. She had always felt a natural maternal instinct, despite her young age. She wanted to go all out on the project and have fun with it but prove she could be a good mother at the same time.

The googly eyes she had gotten from the school's art teacher. The wig was from a costume she wore in a school play. It was too big for the bag of flour and had to be cut to fit, but Eleanor preferred it that way, it felt more personal to her. The bib came from a toy baby doll. Her partner, Horace, was the one who drew the smile on the bag. She liked Horace, even though he was more Simon's friend than her own, he seemed like he was going to be a nice and easy partner to work with.

"You guys are lucky," Brittany continued stabbing at her eggs. "You have good partners."

"What?" Eleanor and Jeanette asked in unison. Miss Miller had turned the music up louder and now it was almost impossible to hear anything clearly.

"I said, you guys are lucky!"

"What?"

"You. Guys. Are. Lucky!"

The two girls leaned forward, trying their best to understand Brittany. "WHAT?"

"YOU'RE LUCKY!" Brittany yelled, quickly losing her patience. She glared at Miss Miller. "Turn it down!"

Miss Miller continued dancing around the kitchen, clearly in her own little world. Her hands were covered in soap and she managed to knock over a dish from the counter, but she didn't seem to mind, or hear it. "What?" she cried over the music.

Brittany attempted to get her to turn the music down again, but after several more repeats of "_What?_ What are you saying?", she stood and turned the radio off completely.

"Well, if you wanted the music off, why didn't you just say so?" Miss Miller chuckled with a shake of her head.

Forcing herself to keep her mouth shut and not let out a snappy response wasn't easy, but Brittany knew she had to. She needed to stay on Miss Miller's good side if she was going to get what she planned on asking for when the time was right.

"Anyway," Brittany sat down and settled her attention back on her sisters, "you're _lucky._ Having Alvin for a partner stinks."

"I-I'm sure it's not so bad," Jeanette insisted, fiddling with her napkin. It was hard to be positive about a project she wasn't feeling so great about herself.

She didn't mind having Theodore for a partner, he was one of her best friends. She would much rather be paired up with him than someone she hardly ever talked to. She just couldn't help but feel envious of Jillian, who had gotten paired up with Simon. It most certainly wasn't in her place to feel that way, but try as she might Jeanette just couldn't help it.

Something about Simon having to spend his time with a girl he had once crushed on, and maybe _still_ crushed on, made Jeanette want to bite her nails until there was practically nothing left. The strange and unwanted feeling of worry and jealousy had swept over her the moment their names were called out and hadn't left since.

"No, it _is_ bad," Brittany continued, her voice firm. "Do you know what he did to the baby? He drew a unibrow on her! And a _mustache!_"

Eleanor hid her snort by taking a long drink of orange juice. "That's awful," she was able to sympathize once she set her glass down.

"I know," Brittany sighed. "I just don't think he's going to take it seriously."

"Well, what do you expect? It's Alvin." Eleanor shrugged.

Eleanor was exactly right. Someone as silly and immature as Alvin could never be expected to take such a project seriously, but that didn't stop Brittany from _wanting_ him to. She didn't want to have to take care of Paula on her own. Eleanor and Jeanette's partners were probably going to help them out and be great fake parents, so why couldn't _she_ get that as well? Was it really too much to ask for?

Maybe she was being too hard on him. The project had only just begun, after all, and he hadn't gotten much of a chance to screw up _too_ much yet. Brittany just had a bad feeling he would manage to make up for that in the long run.

She was probably getting upset already because of her problem with Missy, she reasoned. That was why she needed to ask Miss Miller what she had planned to ask since last night. She had imagined the entire situation in her head, over and over, thinking of the nicest way to ask the question. The only reason she hadn't actually asked it so far was because every possible scenario she imagined always ended with the same answer: _no._

Mustering her most nicest fake smile, Brittany grabbed her plate and began to wash it at the sink. "Oh, Miss Miller," she began sweetly, "I have something to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Well," Brittany dried off her hands, choosing her words carefully, "you know how Fall is coming up, don't you?" When Miss Miller simply nodded, she continued, "That means it's going to get chilly soon. I'll need warm shoes for the _long_ walk to and from school."

Miss Miller continued nodding. Brittany could feel her hope start to rise. "So I'll need a new pair of boots," she finally said. "And I already know which ones I want! I've got a picture of them from a magazine up in my room, I'll go get it right now!"

Before she could even make it out of the kitchen, Miss Miller stopped her.

"I'm afraid not," she said, her voice understanding but firm, like she had already decided that was that. "Don't you remember all of those extra clothes you bought?"

Brittany chewed on her lip nervously. That was why she could have guessed the answer would be no from the get go. A few weeks ago, she'd begged Miss Miller to take her shopping and buy her bags full of new clothes since her wardrobe was in desperate need of an update. She had already spent all of her allowance on a pretty necklace at the time.

Miss Miller had warned her that this meant she would have to be using her own earned money for things for a while, but that was before Brittany realized just how badly she needed to get the pair of boots before Missy Snootson did. Sure, she could try to save up her allowance, but deep down she knew that would never realistically work out. She was a quick spender and always found it hard to keep money saved up.

"I _really_ need these boots," Brittany half-heartedly insisted. She could already tell the debate was over before it had even been able to begin.

"You have plenty of shoes, Brittany," Eleanor reminded her.

"That's right," Miss Miller agreed. Her face brightened almost instantly. "Oh! What about those _adorable_ little boots I bought for you last year? I'm sure they'd still fit you!"

Just imagining the terrible, out of style shoes Miss Miller picked out for her was enough to make Brittany grimace. She'd thrown them out a week after getting them, but wouldn't dare tell Miss Miller that. Instead she nodded slowly and pretended to consider the idea, all the while feeling like any of her chances at having the boots before Missy were continuously slipping out of her grasp the more each day passed by.

_..._

Later on, the Chipmunks and Chipettes sat at their usual lunch table together - well, _almost_ all of them did. Simon opted to sit at a table with Jillian and her friends, much to Jeanette's dismay. She stared down at her green beans and mashed potatoes, occasionally spooning the gravy around to give her hands something to do. She didn't have much of an appetite today.

Everyone seemed to be in a bad mood. Brittany was still upset about Miss Miller telling her no and had only grown further upset once she got to school and saw what Alvin had done to Paula. Too many pipe cleaners were lazily glued across what was supposed to be her eyebrows, and the yarn meant to be hair was full of too much glue and had clearly been applied with barely any care.

"You made her look _worse!_" she'd cried out in horror when her eyes first landed on the poor bag of flour.

Likewise, Alvin wasn't very happy himself. He didn't have time to worry about the bag of flour - oh, excuse him, _Paula_ - when there were much bigger things to think about. He had stayed up all night, trying to devise a plan to get his allowance back that _didn't_ involve a bag of flour, but nothing came to him. The situation was clearly hopeless and he didn't need Brittany's nagging to make him feel any worse.

Eleanor and Theodore seemed to be the only ones not sulking. They chattered excitedly about their respective bags of flour.

"Your baby looks great, Eleanor," the green-clad chipmunk complimented, admiring the black wig and googly eyes.

Eleanor smiled. "Thanks," She looked over Theodore and Jeanette's bag of flour. "Yours... yours look great too!" She hoped her words sounded convincing. A gigantic piece of construction paper had been taped to the bag, a messy face scribbled on to it. Even though it might not look like it, Eleanor knew he probably worked hard on his bag.

"It does," Jeanette forced herself to speak up. She might have been feeling down about Simon being Jillian's partner, but that didn't mean she could take it out on Theodore. She needed to at least show some effort. He was still her partner. "I especially like the..." she squinted her eyes at the bag of flour, attempting to make out what the marks on the face were meant to be, "t-the tears on the face, it's a nice touch."

Theodore bristled instantly. "They're _freckles,_" he was quick to correct her in defense of his art skills.

Her face now a bright shade of red, Jeanette slumped lower in her seat and decided not to say another word for the rest of the lunch hour.

"Well, they're very nice freckles," Eleanor stepped in to save her sister, shooting Theodore an encouraging smile.

Brittany cleared her throat in an attempt to get Alvin's attention. When he continued to stare down at his tray of food, she kicked him under the table. He kicked her right back without even looking up.

"Well," she growled, her eyes settling on Theodore and Jeanette's ugly bag of flour, "that looks better than _my_ baby, thanks to a certain someone." She shot Alvin a pointed glare, however his head stayed down. He clearly wasn't in the mood.

"I think it looks nice," Theodore offered. "I like the hair!"

"_She_ looks nice," Brittany said. "Her name is Paula. Like Paula Abdul."

"Mine and Horace's is named Emily," Eleanor said. She had always thought Emily was a pretty name, and Horace thought it was fine. If he were at lunch, she would have sat with him to discuss more about their baby, but Simon told her Horace wasn't a fan of big crowds. He usually ate his lunch by himself outside.

"Ours is named..." Theodore started, before realizing he and Jeanette hadn't picked out a name. He gasped. "We haven't picked out a name!"

He racked his brain for any ideas while Jeanette remained silent, staring down at her hands. She would be fine with whatever Theodore picked out.

"I've got it," he exclaimed. "What about Julia?"

Brittany wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Julia?" she repeated. At least she and Alvin wouldn't have the worst baby name in the class.

"Yeah," Theodore nodded excitedly, "like Julia Child! Oh, I _love_ her. I have her book, _Mastering the Art of French Cooking,_" despite everyone giving him a blank stare aside from Eleanor, he continued without missing a beat, "and I have every episode of her show _The French Chef _on tape. What do you think, Jeanette?"

She nodded meekly in response, her agreement causing Theodore's face to light up even more.

"Could I borrow that book sometime?" Eleanor asked him.

Brittany could feel her anger rising. If Theodore was capable of acting excited over his bag of flour, so could Alvin. She kicked him again, much harder this time, and was pleased to see that had finally gotten his attention.

"_What?_" he glared at her.

"What are you doing after school today?" she pretended not to notice his rude tone of voice. "I was thinking we should go clothes shopping for Paula, we've _got_ to find something to distract from how hideous she looks."

Thankfully, Alvin was literally saved by the bell from answering her as it began to ring. He shot up from his seat and out of the lunchroom as quick as possible.

Brittany sat in shock. She couldn't believe Alvin had brushed her off so easily. Didn't he realize he needed to do his part of the project too? Furious, she grabbed Paula and stalked out of the lunchroom as well, ignoring Theodore and her sisters' sympathetic looks.

It wasn't Alvin's fault. He just had zero interest in buying clothes for a bag of flour at the moment, in fact he wasn't even sure that was _possible,_ what kind of clothes were going to fit on a bag of flour? Brittany was way over her head with this assignment and he just didn't have the energy to deal with it. He needed to think of a way to get his allowance back and fast.

Class would be a great place to think, too. He hardly _ever_ paid attention in there.

_..._

Feeling defeated and depressed, Alvin trailed behind his brothers into the Seville household. He couldn't think of a single way to get his allowance back. Begging wasn't going to work, Dave had already made it clear that he wanted the bad grade brought up. Cheating wasn't going to work, it was impossible to cheat on such a stupid assignment like the one Mrs. Morgan had given them. There was nothing else for him to do but mope and mourn for the loss of his allowance.

"Hey, fellas!" Dave's cheerful voice greeted them. "How was school today?"

"Fine," was Simon's reply, "Great!" was Theodore's, and "Terrible, my life is over," was Alvin's.

Dave looked discouraged for a moment until he perked up again. "Well, I've got great news," he said. "You boys have got a gig booked for this weekend."

The three chipmunks gasped simultaneously. Since starting school, Dave hadn't let them perform as much as usual, especially since Alvin's grades were slipping so bad. He wanted them to focus on their education instead of music, but he knew how much the performances meant to his boys and liked to surprise them with the occasional good news.

"Where, where?!" the three of them demanded, jumping up and down in a very futile attempt to get in Dave's face.

"The rollerskating rink," Dave grinned. "I know it's short notice, but I'm sure we can come up with something in time."

Unlike Simon and Theodore, Alvin's enthusiasm immediately deflated. He took the news as an insult to his incredible talent. Someone like him should be performing on a gigantic stage in front of a huge crowd of adoring fans screaming his name, not some rollerskating rink! His day couldn't possibly get any worse.

"Aw, Dave," he whined in disbelief, "the rollerskating rink?! That's nothing!"

"It's better _than_ nothing," Simon corrected.

"You know you can't afford to do anything huge until your summer break starts," Dave said. "School should always-"

"I know, I know," Alvin interrupted bitterly, already making his way up the stairs, "school should _always come first._"

He was still pouting by the time it had become dark outside. He sat on his bed, wondering why life was so unfair, while nearby Simon was busy making his own bed to perfection (he detested a messy bed) and Theodore searched for something that Julia could 'sleep' in.

Eventually he found a small, wooden cradle in the back of their closet, the same cradle that they had let Cookie Chomper the Third sleep in. He carefully set the bag of flour inside the cradle and grabbed a blanket to put over it. "This is where Cookie slept," he spoke to Julia as if it were the most natural thing in the world, despite the fact that she was full of nothing but flour, "so please be careful with it."

He sat the cradle in front of his bed before climbing into it, pulling Teddy close to him.

"You can't be serious," Alvin said once he took notice of what Theodore had put the bag of flour in. "_Theodore!_ That was Cookie Chomper's bed!"

Theodore nodded, partially oblivious to his brother's increasing anger. "He wouldn't have minded sharing, I-I don't think," he explained, clutching Teddy closer to him.

"It's a _bag of flour,_" Alvin snapped, his quick temper getting the better of him, "you can't just put it in there like it's no big deal!"

"Alvin..." Simon warned when Theodore's lower lip began to quiver.

But Alvin had already been pushed to his limit. First the allowance, the _stupid_ bag of flour assignment, then the miserable excuse for a gig, and now Theodore had thoughtlessly taken out something for his _stupid_ bag of flour. He continued to rant about the predicament until tears began to trail down Theodore's face. The youngest chipmunk's feelings were very sensitive, especially when it came to his older brother.

Alvin sighed, realizing he was taking his anger out on the wrong person. "I'm sorry, Theodore," he hopped down from his bed and climbed up to sit next to Theodore. "I didn't mean that. It's not a big deal."

Theodore hiccuped, wiping at his eyes. "I-I didn't think it would... would b-be a _bad_ thing," he insisted.

"It's not," Alvin wrapped an arm around the crying chipmunk. If there was one thing he hated to see, it was Theodore cry, especially if it was because of something he had done. "You're right, Cookie Chomper wouldn't mind sharing."

"The third," Simon corrected, in hopes of lightning the mood.

Thankfully, Theodore cracked a smile. "Yeah," he nodded slowly, his face beginning to dry up.

"I think we all just need a good night's sleep," Simon decided, moving to turn the light off.

Alvin could agree with that. He was tired, and maybe some sleep would help him come up with an idea to get his allowance back. Once he was sure Theodore was okay again, he went back to his bed and laid down under the covers.

He closed his eyes and tried to shut his brain off, something that was much easier said than done. He couldn't stop thinking about how he needed to get his allowance back. There_ had_ to be some kind of way.

If only he didn't have to have so much other stuff on his plate at the same time... now he didn't only have to worry about the bag of flour project, he also needed to prepare for the performance that weekend. Even if it was only going to be at the rollerskating rink, people who adored him would still be there. He would get that anywhere he went, of course, big event or not.

Suddenly, an idea came to him, as if a light bulb had popped right above his head. _That was it!_ How could he have not thought of it any sooner? Never mind the fact that the rollerskating rink was nothing compared to other places he and his brothers were used to performing at. It was perfect.

Alvin closed his eyes again, this time easily succumbing to sleep, a brilliant plan already forming in his head...

* * *

**A/N: Credit goes to my friend Michelle (TheodoreSeville85) for the name of Theodore and Jeanette's bag of flour, he helped me come up with it.  
**

**Can anyone guess what episode Horace is from? Ten brownie points if you do!**

**Thanks for reading, next chapter should be out soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Please read this before reading the next chapter! Thank you!**

**All of the covers for my stories are gone again. I don't understand what happened. The error message I received when I went to my image gallery and tried to click on my covers didn't make any sense either, it was talking about a false email or something of the sort. I showed it to my friends and they were confused by it too.**

**Because this isn't the first time I have lost my story covers, I'm just going to stop trying to upload any. Period. I know it can be annoying to have a story's main image change since they're what you use to get familiar with the story (at least I do), so I think it's for the best if I just quit trying to upload cover images until I can figure out why they disappear on me.**

**That's all, really. Enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

"Great job, boys! Let's take it from the top."

Dave was very impressed by how well the three chipmunks were doing during their practice for the performance at the rollerskating rink. Usually there were at least a few bumps and mistakes here and there, especially for a gig they'd been told about on such short notice. This time they all seemed to be into it and ready to get things perfected, especially Alvin. Theodore accidentally went too high on one of the notes and Simon stumbled over the lyrics twice. Alvin, on the other hand, hit his notes perfectly (as always, according to himself), remembered every lyric, and didn't miss a single beat.

Alvin's energy was what helped him do better than usual, something the egotistical chipmunk didn't even think was possible. His mood from the last few days had improved drastically. Instead of being upset over where the performance was going to be at, he was excited about how close he was to getting money for the magazine.

He had a good feeling his plan was going to work. How could it not? His ideas _always_ worked out.

Sure, there was the time he and his brothers decided to be firefighters and were nearly trapped for good in a burning building because Alvin thought they could handle it on their own. Or the time he stole Simon's book report and his trial ended up having to be judged by Theodore. Oh, and that time he tried to pretend to get lost in Australia to win back his fame from Simon and actually ended up getting lost. Among other things.

None of that mattered though! This plan was simple and easy. It was going to work. Alvin didn't consider himself a wonderful business chipmunk for nothing. If there was one thing he was good at - really, there were _many_ things he was good at - it was making money.

Once they managed to get through the song several times without anyone messing up, Dave told them they could take a break.

"Oh, good," Theodore sighed in relief, rubbing his stomach. "I'm starving."

"You had a snack right before we started practice," Simon pointed out.

Theodore ignored him, his face perking up. "Is that the ice cream truck?!" he gasped, already pulling a few dollars out of his pocket.

Alvin and Simon didn't hear anything but decided not to question it. Theodore seemed to have supersonic hearing when the ice cream truck, one of his favorite things, was involved. He was rarely wrong when he insisted on hearing the familiar tune the truck always played.

Not long after that, the boys sat on the sidewalk, each with their own ice creams in their hands. Alvin and Simon both chose plain chocolate while Theodore picked out the Tweety Bird shaped bar with bubblegum for eyes. His flour bag, Julia, set next to him. He insisted on bringing the bag and almost missed the ice cream truck because of it. That was how he knew he was truly dedicated to the project.

"Where are your babies?" he asked his brothers, taking his time with eating his ice cream.

"Brittany has ours," Alvin said.

Simon nodded. "Jillian does as well," he adjusted the napkin that was wrapped around his cone to stop the ice cream from dripping onto him.

"You haven't brought yours home yet, Simon," Theodore said. "Why not?"

"I don't see the difference in it being with me or with Jillian," Simon shrugged. He didn't see much of a point to the project in the first place. Maybe it was to teach them something along the lines of responsibility. It was just hard to get much out of the project when what they were dealing with was nothing but a bag of flour.

At first he felt nervous to be paired with Jillian, a girl he once had crushed on and tried his best to impress. Things weren't as awkward between them as he'd initially thought they would be, though, and they had a good understanding of how they would work on the project together. Jillian always took the bag of flour home with her. Every other day after school he would go to Jillian's house and attempt to complete average tasks with the flour baby that a normal parent would with a real baby. So far things were going well and it was turning out to be an easy project, albeit a slightly pointless one.

He even invited Jillian to the rollerskating rink Friday. He was glad the two of them could be friends and work on their project together like civil people instead of dwelling on the embarrassing things Simon had done to try and win her heart only a few years ago.

"I think it's good to take turns with who brings it home," Theodore spoke matter-of-factly. He was really enjoying the project and found that he liked pretending to be a parent to his own bag of flour. "That way your baby has equal time with both parents."

"You've brought your bag of flour home every night so far," Simon's brow raised.

Theodore pretended not to hear him, shoving a good bit of ice cream into his mouth so he wouldn't have to reply.

"Can't we talk about anything but the dumb project?" Alvin complained. "I hear about it enough from Brittany!"

Instead of changing the subject, Theodore did the exact opposite. "T-that was _mean_ when you walked out on her at lunch today..."

"Walked out on her?" Simon questioned.

Alvin waved a hand in the air. "It wasn't a big deal. She just won't stop bugging me about the project."

"That might have to do with her being your partner," Simon deadpanned.

"So what?" Alvin said. "That doesn't mean she has to be annoying about it. Look at Jillian! She's totally cool with bringing home your bag of flour everyday."

"I also plan to go to her house and help her out with the flour as much as I can."

"I went with Brittany to buy things for our bag of flour!"

"That doesn't mean you're finished with the project. You can't just put in some effort once and then call it a day."

Theodore ate the last bite of his ice cream while his brothers continued to bicker back and forth. He tossed the stick away and patiently waited for the two to finish with their disagreement.

"You owe it to Brittany to be mature about this project," Simon was saying, "didn't you say you were going to at least _try_ to get a good grade? It isn't just your grade on the line now, it's hers as well."

Alvin hated it when Simon went all _mom_ on him. He thought he was so smart and knew everything and was always right. Well, he wasn't. "It's just a bag of flour!" he insisted. "And I _am_ mature!"

"Clearly," Simon looked at the chocolate ice cream smeared all over Alvin's face.

Once Alvin realized what he was staring at he angrily wiped the chocolate away with the back of his hand. "You'll see when I get the money I need," he vowed. He might not be getting it the way everyone expected him to, but that didn't matter. All he had to count on now was for his plan to work.

_..._

If Eleanor hadn't insisted on them going, Brittany and Jeanette would have stayed home that Friday night in a heartbeat.

Brittany didn't want to see the boys, more specifically Alvin. She had been avoiding him since Tuesday, when he'd rudely blown her off at lunch. It wasn't hard to do since he wasn't giving her any attention either. He didn't even _try_ to ask her about Paula. It was obvious to the angry Chipette that she would be working on this project alone. She couldn't believe she thought Alvin might try being a good partner to her. What was she thinking?

As for Jeanette, she caught word of Simon inviting Jillian to go watch him and his brothers perform. Did that mean they were going on a date? She would rather stay home and finish her homework than have to witness that.

"They always go to our shows," Eleanor had reminded them when they tried to mention not going. "And we've always gone to theirs. What would they think if I was the only one to go?"

Jeanette knew Eleanor was right and did her best to shove away any unfair feelings and put on a smile for the boys. Brittany continued to pout the entire way there, not caring what Eleanor thought.

It took Miss Miller a good ten minutes to find a parking spot. The rollerskating rink was packed. She slammed on the brakes when she noticed another car pulling out, sending the Chipettes nearly flying out of their seats. It was times like these they were very thankful for seatbelts.

"That's a mighty big crowd coming to watch the boys," Miss Miller remarked, struggling to get out of the flashy pink car without messing her hair up.

"Lots of people like coming to the rollerskating rink!" Brittany was starting to feel not only angry with Alvin but jealous. She wished she were the one getting to perform to a crowd of fans. She deserved it more than him.

After Miss Miller paid their way in, the girls went to go look for skates in their sizes. This was Jeanette's least favorite part, aside from the actual skating itself. She didn't want to look like a downer and sit out while everyone else skated, but she was _horrible_ at it. It was hard enough for her to walk right in her normal shoes, much less ones with wheels!

She reluctantly put the skates onto her feet, standing up with the help of her sisters. She followed them out onto the rink, wobbling every now and then. Brittany gripped one of her arms while Eleanor gripped the other, helping hold her upright.

The girls skated around for a bit. Jeanette's terrible balance helped ease Brittany's bad mood, if only by a little. Each time the clumsy Chipette would nearly fall flat on her face and they'd have to help her up, Brittany and Eleanor would burst into laughter, Jeanette muttering a series of apologies under her breath while trying to stand upright at the same time.

Of course, Brittany's bad mood came back full force when Simon skated over to them.

"Hi, girls," he greeted.

"Hi," Eleanor and Jeanette both said while Brittany remained quiet. It might not have been Simon's fault that Alvin was being a jerk, but he was his brother and only reminded Brittany of how annoyed she was.

"When are you performing?" Eleanor asked.

Simon checked his wristwatch. "About a half an hour," He looked back up at the Chipettes. "I was actually wondering if I could steal Jeanette from you two before we go on stage," he admitted sheepishly.

"She's skating with us-" Brittany started to protest, only to be interrupted by Eleanor.

"Go ahead!" she grinned, elbowing Brittany in her side.

Jeanette watched helplessly as her sisters skated away. She braced herself and began to skate beside Simon, praying she wouldn't fall and embarrass herself in front of him.

"Are you excited for the show tonight?" Simon asked her, attempting to make small talk.

Jeanette was terrible at small talk, or talking in general. "Yes," she muttered, opening her mouth to say something else before ultimately snapping it shut. She wished she was more interesting, like Brittany and Eleanor, and could strike up a conversation easily. Jillian was probably great at conversations, too.

Silence fell upon them again until Simon was able to break it. "I know we haven't gotten to talk much the past few weeks," he began, "due to the baby assignment... it's been keeping mostly everyone busy."

"It has," Jeanette agreed, not sure what else to say.

"How are you doing with your bag of flour?"

"Good."

"That's good."

Neither of them tried to say anything else after that. Jeanette was grateful for it, she didn't really want to talk about the baby assignment anymore. Instead she focused on not falling. She looked down at her feet and immediately regretted it - she began to wobble, nearly toppling over. She would have fallen on the hard floor if it weren't for Simon quickly grabbing her arm.

"Are you alright?" he asked, smiling despite his efforts. He had always found Jeanette's natural clumsiness quite endearing.

"Y-yes, thank you," Jeanette muttered, her face turning the color of a tomato.

Her almost fall seemed to have broken the awkwardness looming over the two of them. Simon started talking about performing again and Jeanette was able to come up with replies that were longer than just one word. She was painfully aware of Simon's hand still on her arm, ready to help her if she lost her balance again, and did her best to act casual about it.

"Simon!" an all too familiar voice eventually interrupted them.

"Hi Jillian," Simon smiled, lifting his hand from Jeanette's arm to give a little wave. Jeanette couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"Hello," she said, not wanting to look impolite.

"Hi," Jillian smiled at Jeanette briefly, her attention quickly returning to Simon. "I wanted to ask you something about the baby, I brought it with me."

Simon nodded. "Alright. I'll talk to you later, Jeanette."

And just like that, Jeanette was left again in the rink. Except this time she was left alone.

She wasn't the only Chipette by herself, though. Eleanor and a reluctant Brittany had sat at an empty table together to give Simon and Jeanette some alone time, and it wasn't long before Theodore showed up and asked Eleanor if she'd like to skate with him before he and his brothers had to perform. They both insisted Brittany could join them. She stayed behind instead. She'd rather sit at a table by herself than be a third wheel.

Brittany stared down at the wooden table, wishing she'd have brought Paula inside with her. There were a lot of kids from school there and she wanted to show off her baby's new look. By new look, she _technically_ meant new baby.

Unable to stand having the ugliest baby in class, she had simply bought a brand new bag of flour, the exact kind Mrs. Morgan handed out to them at the beginning of the week. She drew a new face on the baby, gave her yarn hair, and got Jeanette to help sew a flour sized cloth for the bag so that it would look like it was wearing some sort of clothes.

Eleanor insisted that was cheating and she couldn't just start over with a new baby if she didn't like the one she had. Brittany didn't see it that way and told anyone who asked at school that she simply had great artistic talents and fixed her ugly bag of flour all on her own.

She did plan on showing the new Paula off to anyone who hadn't seen her yet, if only she hadn't forgotten her in Miss Miller's car. Eleanor tried to nag her about that too, insisting that you couldn't leave a real baby alone in a car and so she shouldn't have done that with Paula either. Brittany just shrugged her off. She knew she was a good fake parent.

Only a good fake parent could take care of a fake baby all on her own and still be doing a good job at it. She took new Paula almost everywhere with her, treating her as if she were an actual baby. In a strange way, she had bonded with her new bag of flour over the past week and was happy to be a fake parent to it. She didn't _need_ Alvin to take care of Paula, she was doing just fine on her own.

"What are you doing sitting by yourself?"

_Speak of the devil,_ Brittany thought angrily. She didn't look at Alvin, or even bother to give him a response.

"Oh, I get it," he sat down next to her and set something on the table. Brittany refused to look and see what it was. "You're giving me the silent treatment."

She continued to pointedly look away as a silent way of saying, _Yes I am._

"Are you mad at me?"

This time Brittany turned to shoot him an annoyed look before looking away again.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Alvin wasn't surprised that Brittany was mad at him. He was expecting it. He hadn't exactly been the best partner to her, he knew that much. In his defense, he had his own problems to deal with. The money he needed for his magazine was just out of his reach, and if his plan for the night worked, he would have it in his hands by tomorrow morning.

Of course, even if his plan worked, he would still have to deal with an angry Brittany. And an angry Dave if his grade wasn't brought up.

"I guess I'll have to drink _this,_" he motioned toward the root beer float he had brought with him, despite the fact that Brittany wouldn't even look in his direction, "all by myself."

He waited patiently for her to take the bait and tried again when she didn't.

"Even though it has _two straws,_" the chipmunk sighed loudly, "I guess I'll just... drink it on my own."

"Hmph," was all Brittany offered him in response.

"C'mon, Britt," he nudged her, "you can't stay mad at me _forever!_ I've just been really busy, you know?"

Brittany finally looked at him without turning away. "Busy," she spat. "With what? Too busy ignoring me? Too busy brushing me off? Too busy making me do the project all by myself, even though we made a _deal?_ We were supposed to work together."

Alvin winced. "When you put it that way..."

"Mhm."

"I'm sorry," he said, and meant it. "I didn't really _mean_ to do any of that. I'll make it up to you."

"That's what you always say," Brittany scoffed.

"I will!" Alvin insisted. "I'll help you with the bag of flour or Paula or whatever you want to call it - I mean her - starting now."

Brittany didn't look too convinced just yet, but her anger towards him was noticeably starting to pass. "You will?"

"Yeah," Alvin looked around for the bag, surprised when he couldn't spot it. He would have thought Brittany would bring it with her, he had seen her carrying it around everywhere at school for the past week. "Uh, where is it, anyway?"

Brittany fiddled with her bubblegum pink coated nails, looking sheepish. "I forgot Paula in the car," she admitted.

"Shouldn't you not do that?"

"Shouldn't you not ditch your partner for a whole week?"

_Fair enough,_ Alvin thought.

"So," he started, hoping to settle the tension again, "how did you fix the bag?" He had been wondering that for the past few days now.

Brittany pulled the root beer float towards her and took a sip from the nearest straw. "I bought a new one," she said simply.

"Really?" Alvin's eyebrows raised.

"Really," Brittany nodded.

"Won't we get in trouble for that?" he asked.

Brittany shook her head. "Mrs. Morgan can't _prove_ I replaced it," she said. "I made sure it's the same bag of flour she gave everyone."

"That's cheating," Alvin said. He smiled. "I like it."

Brittany smiled back and felt a sense of pride from his reaction. She was about to say something else before Theodore showed up.

"Dave says we're on in fifteen minutes!" he told Alvin, gasping for breath between words. "Geez, Eleanor can skate _really_ fast!" he added as an afterthought.

"You'll take Paula home tonight?" Brittany asked Alvin before he could leave. She was going to make sure he kept true to his word and didn't disappoint her again. At least, she hoped she could make sure of it.

Alvin nodded. "If you don't forget her in the car," he teased.

He followed Theodore over to the stage they would be performing on. It wouldn't be long before he could put his plan in action and get the money he needed.

Brittany watched them walk off, too happy about Alvin remembering to call Paula a _her_ and not an _it_ for the first time to really care about him getting the last word.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was a pain. I spent at least a week writing bits and pieces of it until it was finally finished.**

**I'm trying my best to add in canon couple moments for you guys without getting in the way of the plot since you've been asking for it. This is primarily an Alvittany story so yes, there will eventually be more Alvin and Brittany moments. I'm just not going too heavy with the romance. Remember, they are only ten in this story.  
**

**ChipmunkfanNo.1, yes, Horace is from The Gang's All Here. That was a hard one, nice job guessing right!**

**Out of curiosity, what font does everyone use on here?  
**


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